Through Our Eyes
by Cola-Flavoured-Sherbet
Summary: Follow Dylan, Jenn and Alex's rollercoaster journeys into their final year with the New Directions. Season 3 semi-canon with OCs.


"_Shalom blogosphere! Jacob Ben Israel here at McKinley High." The Jewish AV club member said into his microphone as he looked down the camera which followed him as he walked through the corridors of his high school._

"_Sudden death. Big stage. Senior year. Who will succeed and who will fail?" he then asked before a tall, well-built blonde boy in a navy polo shirt, loose jeans and black Vans walked towards his locker. Jacob Ben Israel turned around and saw the boy before walking up to him._

"_Dylan Armstrong aka. the angry one who lost his parents in a car crash last year and still managed to win a National show choir championship. Sounds a little bit like a soap opera if you ask me." Jacob said to the camera before it focused on Dylan who was looking to the geeky boy like he wanted to punch him._

"_What are you planning to do when you graduate?" Jacob asked the soccer player before positioning his microphone underneath Dylan's mouth._

"_Well, I'm planning to go to New York and hopefully go to a performing arts school to major in dance or musical theatre. Hopefully be on Broadway before I retire but I'm not as desperate to get there as Rachel and Kurt are but…it would be nice." Dylan replied._

* * *

_The camera then switched to a small redhead girl wearing a tight pink t-shirt, shirt black skirt and pink Converse going down the hallways and trying to walk away from Jacob Ben Israel who was just firing questions at her._

"_Jenn McGraw. What do you have to say about the rumours about you lying about your age and how you're only a freshman at the school?" Jacob asked the girl who rolled her eyes and turned on her heels so she was looking into JBI's eyes._

"_Look and listen here, toilet brush. Thank god this is my __**senior **__year so this will be one of the last times I get to listen to you squabble on and asking questions about my college choices. And to answer those questions for you to get out of my face, I'm applying to a few music schools to show off my incredible voice." Jenn said._

"_That it is, girl!" a sassy female voice called out and the girl looked past the camera and grinned before walking away._

* * *

_The camera then moved to a shot of an olive skinned boy with jet black hair wearing a white and grey plaid shirt over a black t-shirt, slightly skinny jeans and black leather Converse. He was retrieving his messenger bag out of his locker when he shut his locker door and Jacob was stood behind the locker door with his microphone. Alex just looked at the reporter before walking away._

"_Alex Hawthorne. Is it because of your robotic Vocal Adrenaline personality that nothing scares you?" Jacob asked while jogging behind Alex's brisk walk._

"_I can definitely think of one thing that at least creeps me out right now." Alex mumbled as Jacob carries on._

"_Even though you are only here for your senior year, what do you plan on doing after you graduate?" he asked and Alex sighed. Many people have asked him this question, from his mother to his sister to Coach Goolsby last year and now this bucktoothed human bottle opener was asking him. He really didn't need this right now._

"_Right now I'm just taking every day as it comes." Alex asked._

"_And what about this rumour that you have a crush on Tina Cohen-Chang as you were seen over the summer many times together?" Jacob then asked._

"_Okay, first of all that's racist to pair the two Asians together even though Tina is with Mike. And second of all, her mom and my mom are friends so we hung out over the summer but no, I'm not crushing on Tina." Alex said, walking into the sea of students before Jacob could get any more questions in._

* * *

_The camera then cut back to Dylan who was still stood at his locker._

"_How is your relationship with the hot-headed redhead going?" Jacob asked._

"_Who, Jenn? I'm not with her anymore." Dylan said._

"_But you were spotted by multiple of my sources at BreadstiX on multiple dates with a woman." Jacob then said, his intrigued eyes trained on Dylan._

"_I did go on a few dates over the summer but they weren't with Jenn." Dylan then said before smiling at a figure coming up to him._

"_Hey, handsome." It said just before Brittany came into shot and gently kissed Dylan, who smiled into the kiss as he returned it. When it broke, he took her hand._

"_Ready for study room?" he asked and Brittany nodded before they walked away with Brittany's arms around Dylan's waist and Dylan's left arm around Brittany's shoulder._

**0000000000**

As Jenn walked into the choir room, she smiled at all of the familiar faces and the majority smiled back, except of course for one but that was to be expected. Her and Dylan hadn't talked since the break up and it was an incredibly messy break up so they decided to keep away from each other for a while which was probably for the best. She sat down in the top row of chairs next to Santana while Alex was chatting with Kurt and Mike and Dylan watched Brittany who, along with Tina, was stood in front of their trophies which were poised next to the piano.

"Mr. Schue, why are all of our trophies in the middle of the room?" Tina asked.

"I was sure that our Nationals trophy would grow during the summer." Brittany thought aloud. Dylan would have gave his trademark goofy smile whenever Brittany spoke her thoughts out loud if Mr. Schuester hadn't of stepped in.

"I want this image burned into your minds." He said before reaching to pick up the New Directions 12th place trophy.

"This is what the difference between 1st and 12th place looks like. It's also what it feels like." Mr. Schuester said.

"Do you plan on bumming us out all year long?" Puck asked as he walked past to sit down on the bottom row of chairs.

"No, I'm planning on pushing you harder than you've ever been pushed." Mr. Schuester replied as everyone in the group sat down. Santana's eyes widened as if to say 'what the hell are you trying to say?' before Mr. Schuester said that they made it to Nationals last year and this year he's not going to let anyone or anything stop them from winning it all.

"I let you down last year. I lost focus, let some Broadway pipe dream get in the way." Mr. Schuester said before Rachel spoke for everyone when the guy who replaced Mr. Schuester won the Tony.

"I can only imagine your regret." Rachel said.

"You know what I regret? Being the laughing stock of the show choir world." Mercedes piped in.

"And that's saying something." Artie added on.

"Mercedes has a point: Finn and Rachel's 'the kiss that missed' already has 20,000 views on YouTube and the comments section is just full of pity banter like the top comment being 'Why is that T-Rex eating the Jew'?" Kurt said. On the mention of the top comment, Jenn and Jack shared a fist bump and a smirk as Finn asked how many times they have to apologise for that.

"The school hates us even more now." Mike commented.

"Which is why we have to work even harder to recruit new members. We're three men down." Mr. Schuester said.

"Yeah, only because Puckerman couldn't convince Zizes to stay." Santana said, looking down to Puck.

"She's the one who got away…really, really slowly." Puck summarized before Tina spoke up.

"Where's Quinn?" she asked.

"MIA. No one's heard from her. It's sad, I miss her." Artie said.

"How come you haven't seen her over the summer, David Beckham since the two of you are best friends?" Alex asked Dylan who shrugged.

"I don't know, I've tried going to visit but she's never home. And plus I've been busy." Dylan replied.

"Yeah, what happened between you and redhead Mariah over there?" Mercedes asked.

"We broke up…" Dylan started before looking to Jenn who looked solemn. Dylan sighed and shrugged.

"Things just didn't work out between us and we called it off." Dylan reasoned although he knew the truth.

* * *

_**1**__**st**__** week into summer break**_

_Dylan had decided to surprise Jenn and take her out for a picnic in the park. He was up the stairs and made it into her bedroom. Opening the door, his eyes widened at the sight. Jenn was on her bed, hovering over a body underneath her in a fully clothed, heated make out session._

"_What the hell is this?!" he yelled out and the kissing stopped. Dylan looked at the figure that was holding on to Jenn and he could only laugh in a mixture of shock, anger and disbelief, recognising the person instantly._

"_You know what? You can have her." He said to the figure before looking to Jenn._

"_We're done." He said before slamming the bedroom door._

* * *

"Let's just say we realised we were too different." Dylan summarized. Everyone just took the reason before going back to the topic at hand.

"No one's gonna join, Mr. Schue." Mercedes said.

"They will. All they need is a little inspiration. And I happen to have two pieces of that." Mr. Schuester then said before signalling to Dylan who nodded and left the room, returning seconds later with the trophy he won last year with Vocal Adrenaline. The blonde boy placed it next to Mr. Schuester.

"First, this is trophy that Dylan and Alex won with Vocal Adrenaline last year. This shows that if one solo from one of our members can win this, then twelve or more members can too. This trophy is not just inspiration for finding new members, it's our inspiration for winning one of our own at the end of the year." Mr. Schuester then said, gaining smiles from the whole group.

"Our second bit of inspiration is courtesy of Al Motta of Motta's Pianos." The teacher continued before clapping his hands once and signalling to the door.

"Bring 'em in, guys!" he called before turning back to the New Directions.

"You guys are gonna love this." He then said as 3 purple pianos were being wheeled in to the choir room. Kurt threw his hands up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! If there are purple pianos involved in this, I am on board." The countertenor said as Mr. Schuester sat on one of the pianos being rolled in as he explained that they were repossessed from foreclosed homes

"They're castoffs. Just like us: used, in need of repairs-" Will started.

"But they're still capable of making beautiful music." Tina finished, Mr. Schuester saying that Tina was right before saying that since Mr. Motta loved the arts, he has agreed to donate them to Glee. Mr. Schue then fixed them up, painted them purple and what he likes to call "The Purple Piano Project" was born. He was going to place the pianos all over the school and whenever they see one, no matter what they're doing, to sing a song. But Brittany, Kurt, Tina, Dylan and Alex didn't care, they were straight over to the pianos and playing whatever sing they knew on the piano. Mr. Schuester said something about using the assignment to attract kids like themselves, who can't keep the music inside of them. And that those kind of people are the additions they need to win it all this year. But everyone heard his next sentence and they all turned to listen.

"Now for many of you…this is your last year. Let's make it special." He said and all the seniors nodded.

**0000000000**

"Hopefully I can get one of those pianos in the auditorium. I want to show off my piano skills to you after those lessons you gave me." Brittany said to Dylan as they stood by her locker. She had Cheerios practice soon, the first of the year and she couldn't afford to miss it.

"I'll try and get one in the auditorium within the next few days just for you." Dylan replied, getting Brittany smile.

"Thank you." She said, gently pecking Dylan's nose, gaining a small laugh from the boy before he sighed.

"What's the matter?" Brittany then asked, knowing something was playing on her boyfriend's mind.

"It's just…" he tried to word his thoughts before sighing again.

"Is it to do with the fact that Santana is on the Cheerios?" Brittany asked and Dylan nodded.

"Yeah, after I saw her with Jenn in the bedroom, I just can't…really look at her the same. You know, she used to be a friend of mine but now seeing as my ex-girlfriend cheated on me with her behind my back, I just have this natural disliking towards her." Dylan reasoned and Brittany nodded.

"I can stop talking to her if you want. If she makes you feel sad and angry, then I don't want you to see me talking to her and make you even more sad and angry." Brittany then said, gently taking his hand. Dylan just gave a small smile and shook his head.

"No, I don't want you not talking to your best friend because of me. Just because I don't like her, doesn't mean you shouldn't. She's your best friend and I shouldn't take that privilege away from you." Dylan said and Brittany smiled.

"I've got to go to Cheerios practise. I'll see you after?" the young girl asked, gaining a nod from the dancing male. Dylan gave her a quick peck on the cheek before Brittany headed off. Just as she walked away, Dylan turned to walk to the cafeteria for lunch when he stopped dead in his tracks. There walking towards him, or in that direction anyway, was a clone of P!nk circa 2000, only scarier. Much scarier. And it may have just been shocking to anyone else, but to Dylan it was scary to see Quinn like this. He needed to talk to her. And by the looks of things, he needed to talk to her fast.

**0000000000**

When Quinn talked to Santana and Brittany, he could only watch from afar. He could only feel a painful pang in his stomach upon seeing Santana. Sure they were pretty close last year: they had laughs, they were there for each other. But ever since he saw Santana and Jenn together, he honestly doesn't know whether he can be friends with her again. He loved Jenn and now she's taken her away from him. And even though he's with Brittany, Jenn was his first love and Santana took away any chance he had to be with her. But nevertheless, he's very happy with Brittany and he wouldn't change anything for the world. Well, except for one thing.

When Quinn had finished talking to the other two thirds of the Unholy Trinity, she turned and saw Dylan resting against the bleachers, looking at Quinn with no expression on his face. The girl could only sigh and walk up to the young man.

"What do you want, Armstrong? I need to go and meet up with the other Skanks." Quinn said. Dylan could only look down and shake his head before looking back up.

"What happened to you, Quinn? When you left for the summer, you wanted a change in your look. I understood that and now it looks like you've been dragged through a hedge backwards, that's been covered in pink paint. And what the hell is this about you dating a 40 year old skateboarder you met at a truck stop?!" Dylan incredulously asked. Quinn rolled her eyes from behind her sunglasses and tried to walk past the blonde boy but he grabbed her arm.

"You can't do this to yourself, Quinn. Is this just some sick cry for help?" Dylan asked before Quinn almost ripped the glasses from her face as she matched Dylan's glare.

"Don't you dare tell me that finding my true self is a cry for help." She snarled. Dylan scoffed.

"This is you finding yourself? Quinn, this is you losing yourself. Didn't you once tell me that glee club brightened your day and made you realize that people who are the complete opposite of you can't be that bad? And now look at yourself: you're shortening your life span smoking all of those cigarettes, you look like a damn mess, and you seriously need to think about where your life is headed and how the people closest to you feel about this. Think about how your mom feels knowing that you look and act like this, think about how your friends feel…think about how Beth would feel if she knew that her mother has just gone down a complete downward spiral at only 17 years old." Dylan snarled. A fire burned within Quinn's eyes as she ripped her hand out of Dylan's grip.

"Stay the hell away from me." She snarled before briskly walking away. Dylan could only watch before retrieving his phone and creating a text, sending it straight away.

_**Plan B. Now.**_

**0000000000**

Quinn was still under the bleachers, lighting up what was her 5th cigarette when an all too familiar voice rang through her ears.

"Hi, Quinn." It said and the pink haired girl looked to see one Rachel Berry stood beside the blonde boy who all but ridiculed her probably about 15 minutes ago. Rachel greeted the Skanks but kept her eyes on Dylan who just looked back at her, with no emotion on his face.

"Your friends stink of soap, Quinn." One of the group: Ronnie said.

Rachel said that she and Quinn were friends once, and she thought that when Quinn cut her hair off it would solve all of her problems but she should've spoken up.

"Maybe when you dropped out of society this summer and started dating that 40 year old skateboarder, I should've said-"

"I'm not coming back to glee club." Quinn interrupting Rachel's beginning of a copyrighted Rachel ramble as she looked from Dylan to Rachel.

"Look, we need you. Okay? Have you seen those purple pianos around school? And we're planning this big recruiting number and it's going to be a tribute to The Go-Gos. I mean…who doesn't love The Go-Gos?" Rachel asked with this smile on her face.

"I prefer The Bangles." Another of the skanks: Sheila said. Rachel just let out a shaky 'okay' before saying they needed Quinn's voice and her Belinda Carlisle glamour.

"I'll give you ten bucks if you let me beat her up for you, Quinn." The other of the group: The Mack said. Dylan stepped forward and in front of Rachel as she said those words.

"Like hell you will." He snarled but the girl stood her ground. Meanwhile Rachel apologized at how Quinn was so sad and said she was sad not seeing her in the choir room despite the two not being really close.

"We've all been through so much together. We're a family and this is our year to get it right." She then said, leading Quinn and Dylan to share a look. Quinn was there for him when his parents died, when he was at his lowest point and now she had walked away from him. Dylan was sad about this seeing as Quinn was probably his closest friend in the club but he decided when he finished talking to her the first time that he would have to let her figure it out by herself.

"We would love to have you back in the glee club whenever you're ready, okay?" Rachel then finished before walking away with Dylan turning to leave seconds later but was stopped by a voice that clutched at his heart.

"What? You're not going to say anything?" it asked and the boy looked back to see Quinn wanting an answer to her question. Dylan only sighed.

"Nothing more than what I said before, Quinn." He said before walking away.

**0000000000**

In the cafeteria, everybody was having lunch. Well, mostly everybody seeing as Quinn and the Skanks were probably eating underneath the bleachers. Dylan was sat talking with Brittany, Alex and Kurt when Rachel came over to their table where the rest of the New Directions were sat.

"Why are you guys ignoring Mr. Schuester's assignment?" she asked. Everyone looked up at her.

"Wait, there's a purple piano in here?" Finn asked, shocked.

"Wow, how did any of us miss that?" Mercedes replied with more feigned shock in her voice, causing nearly everyone to let out a laugh.

"You'd think that he would at least try and increase his 'surroundings awareness' over the summer, wouldn't you?" Jenn then said, continuing the laughter. But Rachel ignored the comment, saying they had to do the recruiting number.

"We have to survive lunch. It's not fair that Mr. Schue put the piano in here. It's too much pressure." Artie countered.

"I agree. That is like wearing a red dress to a bullfight." Kurt added on.

"Yeah, Rachel. Can't we do it tomorrow? Or the next day? Or never?" Mitchell asked.

"The point of the assignment was to find people who couldn't help but join, okay? The more people that we sing in front of, the more chances we have of getting one, okay? It's simple mathematics." Rachel then pointed out, with Puck pointed out he stopped attending math years ago.

"No, no. Hold on. Rachel's right. How's anyone supposed to believe we can go to Nationals if we don't even believe in ourselves?" Finn asked them and they all mumbled in agreement, except Rachel who smiled at her boyfriend, thanking him. Finn then nodded to the drummer before Dylan and Alex took their positions with the guitar and piano respectively and the club burst into a lively rendition of 'We Got The Beat'. It went pretty well, for them anyway until Becky threw vegetables at Rachel and some girl threw spaghetti at Puck.

"Oh god, no!" he voiced, knowing what was about to unfold.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

Cue the monstrosity unfolding in the cafeteria.

**0000000000**

20 minutes later, everyone was in the choir room after the food fight ended and they had made it out of the cafeteria. The people who got it the worst were probably Artie who was covered head to toe in spaghetti, Mitchell who did very well to not get covered until he slipped on some soda on the floor and landed face first into someone's tray covered in mashed potato and gravy, and Alex who was a walking ice cream cone. Unlike the others though, he brought a spare set of clothes with him and went to the showers to clean himself up while the others sat in the choir room.

"I thought slushies were bad, but spaghetti sauce in the eye is so much worse." Artie said, wheeling himself around the choir room in anger.

"Well, Tin Man, just be glad we don't get hit with cups of those on a daily basis." Jack retorted.

"I have pepperoni in my bra." Brittany worriedly said as she looked down her Cheerios top.

"Those are your nipples." Santana said.

"Oh come on guys. That was my first food fight ever, I've always wanted to be in one and I, personally, thought it was awesome." Dylan then said as he walked into the choir room. He had gone to the men's bathroom to wash the pizza cheese, mushroom and tomato sauce out of his hair.

"Mr. Schue, if you are trying to break us down to rebuild us, its working." Mike said, walking up to the glee club director.

"Not one single person was inspired by our hot lunch jam to try out, Mr. Schue." Mercedes said, throwing a dirty cloth into a bin that was used to scrape the food off of the recovered piano.

"It's true. You guys sucked ass." A voice said from the choir room entrance. It was a girl with slightly tanned skin, light brown hair and wearing a pink and white outfit. Jenn remembers seeing her in the cafeteria during the recruitment number when Puck tried his 'no words pull' method to try and get Sugar to hook up with him by doing push-ups in front of her. Needless to say her reaction was pretty hysterical.

"I'm sorry, and you are?" Rachel asked, slightly offended at the girl's comments. She introduced herself as Sugar Motta, she's like a diplomat's daughter and she has self-diagnosed Asperger's.

"How can we help you, Sugar?" Will asked her.

"Here's the deal. I'm awesome, and I want to be a big, big star. And when I saw you guys singing and dancing in the cafeteria, I thought, 'I am so much better than you'." Sugar replied, gaining wide eyes from the club.

"Sorry, Asperger's." She said. Mr. Schuester then let her audition.

"Get ready to taste some sweet ear candy." She said as she stood in the middle of the choir room before turning to Brad.

"Hit it, hottie." She said before going into a rendition of 'Big Spender'. And it was some rendition. Jenn had to bury her head in Santana's shoulder to stop herself from laughing out loud while Artie made a comment about how her ears should get to park in the handicapped spot. And of course, Brittany liked it.

"Holy…shhhh-ugar!" Mr. Schuester said once she had finished and Sugar requested to text her the rehearsal schedule.

"Of course." The director said, still dazed from the atrocious singing that had just happened but was woken up by Rachel kicking the back of his chair and telling him to stop speaking before turning to Sugar and saying they'll be in touch. As soon as she left the room, Jenn lifted her head from Santana's shoulder still laughing.

"Okay - I think I speak for everyone when I say 'never gonna happen'." Rachel said over the laughter. Mercedes shook her finger while everyone else frantically shook their heads. Apart from Jack and Jenn who were still doubled over in laughter.

"Guys, I know she was…a little rough, but we have always had the policy that everyone who tries out gets in." Mr. Schuester reasoned."

"You're not doing her any good sheltering Sugar from the truth, okay? High school is where you learn its survival of the fittest. She's gonna drag the New Directions down, and that's not fair for those of us who don't want to spend our lives rotting in this insignificant town. You said the other day that you would do anything to get us to Nationals, okay? And she is gonna keep us from winning that elusive crown. If anything, she is gonna kill all of our chances." Rachel said, gaining nods from the club.

"But on the plus side, if she's let in she can create mass humour." Santana pointed out, pointing to a now floored Jack and Jenn.

"See, the only people we attract to audition are horrible singers." Mercedes then said.

"Are you sure about that?" another voice appeared at the door, ceasing the laughter. Everyone looked to see Alex rested against the doorframe. He had changed into a grey cardigan with white stripes on the cuffs over a tight black t-shirt, navy blue skinny jeans and black Vans. Everyone looked at him as he walked in.

"I did say last year that I would think about auditioning to not just play piano but to sing and dance with you guys. I've thought about it and after I saw how much fun you were having singing in the cafeteria, I realised how little of that I had in Vocal Adrenaline. In fact, I had none of that. And I realised how much I wanted that, to have fun…to be a part of a family." Alex said to smiles from Dylan, Kurt, Tina and Mike.

"So, I want to try out if that's okay with you all." He then summarized, gaining looks from the club.

"Besides, I think it would be a refresher after what I heard from outside. I would have walked in earlier but I probably would have laughed and that's rude." Alex said, gaining laughter from the club before Mr. Schuester spoke up.

"Of course you can audition, Alex. Let's see what you got." He said and Alex smiled before sitting down by the food stained piano.

"Um, are you sure you want to use that piano?" Tina asked him and Alex looked back, nodding.

"Think of this as my input for the assignment. And I brought gloves so I'm cool." He said, putting a pair of black gloves on before he began to play a familiar melody to most of the clubbers, only slower. He played a small introduction before he softly began to sing.

_Gotta change my answering machine now that I'm alone_

_Cause right now it says that we_

_Can't come to the phone_

_And I know it makes no sense_

_Since you walked out the door_

_But it's the only way I hear your voice anymore_

Everyone smiled at his voice. He showcased his power with Vocal Adrenaline and now he got to showcase his emotion and vulnerability and the way he changed up the song to make it more heartbreaking than it already was, really appealed to the New Directions.

_It's ridiculous_

_It's been months_

_And for some reason I just_

_Can't get over us_

_And I'm stronger then this_

_Enough is enough_

_No more walking round_

_With my head down_

_I'm so tired of being blue_

_Crying over you_

_And I'm so sick of love songs_

_So tired of tears_

_So done with wishing you were still here_

_Said I'm so sick of love songs so sad and slow_

_So why can't I turn off the radio?_

As he went into the second verse, a little grit appeared that everyone knew was rare. Very little artists had the ability to sing powerfully, sing in a heartbreaking lilt and have a bluesy grit all of the same time. And Alex had all of this.

_Gotta fix that calendar I have_

_That's marked July 15th_

_Because since there's no more you_

_There's no more anniversary_

_I'm so fed up with my thoughts of you_

_And your memory_

_And now every song reminds me_

_Of what it used to be_

_That's the reason I'm so sick of love songs_

_So tired of tears_

_So done with wishing she was still here_

_Said I'm so sick of love songs so sad and slow_

_So why can't I turn off the radio?_

_So why can't I turn off the radio?_

When Alex belted out the last line of the chorus, the New Directions boys backed him up by singing the first and third line of the next verse. Alex smiled at this before he brought the song home, his fingers still delicately tracing the piano keys.

_Leave me alone_

_Leave me alone_

_Stupid love songs_

_Don't make me think about her smile_

_Or having my first child_

_I'm letting go_

_Turning off the radio_

_Cause I'm so sick of love songs_

_So tired of tears_

_So done with wishing you were still here_

_Said I'm so sick of love songs so sad and slow_

_So why can't I turn off the radio?_

When he finished, he let out a deep breath and looked to the New Directions who applauded him before Mr. Schuester stood up, walking over to him.

"I think I speak for the club when I first say thank you for that amazing performance." He said before putting a hand on his shoulder.

"And secondly…welcome to the New Directions!" Will finished to applause and Dylan and Tina got up from their seats to hug the newest member.

**0000000000**

After glee practise, Dylan was retrieving books from his locker when Brittany came up to it.

"Hey, you." She said. Dylan looked to Brittany and smiled.

"Hey. What's up?" he asked.

"You know when I said at the start of the week with the purple pianos with me wanting to show off my piano skills?" Brittany asked and Dylan nodded. Brittany then just flashed a smile before taking Dylan's hand and leading him down the corridors and into the auditorium where Rachel, Kurt and Jack were just finishing off a very polished rendition of 'Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead!' before they went offstage happy, saying that the mixer kids won't know what hit them. Dylan could only grin as he was being led towards the stage.

"You planned this whole thing, didn't you?" he asked and Brittany turned to him with an innocent pout.

"No?" she tried before smiling and running onstage towards the piano. Dylan smiled before starting a song up.

_"I wanna talk to you."_

Brittany grinned, recognising the song and speaking the reply as she played the first piano chord.

_"The last time we talked, Mr. Armstrong, you reduced me to tears. I promise you it won't happen again."_

She said before tossing a fedora to Dylan who was still stood at the bottom of the steps who smiled and put it on before travelling the length of the steps as he started singing.

_Do I attract you?_

_Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?_

_Am I too dirty?_

_Am I too flirty?_

_Do I like what you like?_

_I could be wholesome_

_I could be loathsome_

_I guess I'm a little bit shy_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you like me without making me try?_

Dylan had now made it to the top of the stairs and when the chorus kicked in, he spun around the piano while smiling to his girlfriend who grinned in return while continuing to play the piano.

_I tried to be like Grace Kelly_

_But all her looks were too sad_

_So I try a little Freddie_

_I've gone identity mad!_

Dylan is then thrown a Freddie Mercury style microphone stand as he goes towards the front of the stage and belts out the chorus.

_I could be brown_

_I could be blue_

_I could be violet sky_

_I could be hurtful_

_I could be purple_

_I could be anything you like_

Dylan then slid on his knees to the piano that Brittany was playing on before standing up and resting his elbow on the piano, watching the blonde girl play.

_Gotta be green_

_Gotta be mean_

_Gotta be everything more_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you walk out the door!_

He then put the microphone to Brittany's mouth who spoke the next line.

_"Getting angry doesn't solve anything"_

Dylan only smiled a cheeky grin before throwing the mic stand into the curtains, raising his hands in misunderstanding as he stepped backwards before going into a simple dance routine while interacting with the band members.

_How can I help it?_

_How can I help it?_

_How can I help what you think?_

_Hello my baby_

_Hello my baby_

_Putting my life on the brink_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you like yourself?_

_Should I bend over?_

_Should I look older just to be put on your shelf?_

_I tried to be like Grace Kelly_

_But all her looks were too sad_

_So I try a little Freddie_

_I've gone identity mad!_

_I could be brown_

_I could be blue_

_I could be violet sky_

_I could be hurtful_

_I could be purple_

_I could be anything you like_

_Gotta be green_

_Gotta be mean_

_Gotta be everything more_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you walk out the door!_

Dylan then looked to Brittany and slid his feet forward so his whole body travelled back to the piano before going around it to stand beside Brittany.

_Say what you want to satisfy yourself_

_But you only want what everybody else says you should want_

_You want_

He then takes over for Brittany on the piano while singing the penultimate chorus with just his piano playing accompanying him.

_I could be brown_

_I could be blue_

_I could be violet sky_

_I could be hurtful_

_I could be purple_

_I could be anything you like_

_Gotta be green_

_Gotta be mean_

_Gotta be everything more_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Walk out the door!_

He then ran back to cehtre stage and danced his way to the finish of the song.

_I could be brown_

_I could be blue_

_I could be violet sky_

_I could be hurtful_

_I could be purple_

_I could be anything you like_

_Gotta be green_

_Gotta be mean_

_Gotta be everything more_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Why don't you like me?_

_Walk out the door!_

_Ooh wow!_

Brittany then walked up to Dylan and took his hand while saying the next line.

_"Humphry! We're leaving."_

As she dragged him offstage, he fist pumped with a smile on his face while speaking the final line.

_"Cha-ching!"_

He then laughed along with Brittany as she pulled him behind the curtains before she ran a hand through his short, thick blonde hair and leaning in for a kiss which Dylan returned straight away.

**0000000000**

The next day, news spread fast about Sue Sylvester getting glitter bombed by Mr. Schuester so Alex has been trying to keep on the opposite side of the building while she was out and about seeing as he was now officially part of the New Directions and while he was at his locker, he put his history books in his locker before hearing a voice from behind his locker door.

"Hey there, newbie." It said and Alex smiled before shutting his locker door and looking to a grinning Kurt.

"Hi, stranger." He said.

"Walk with me to my locker?" Kurt asked and Alex nodded before they both began the journey to Kurt's locker.

"So, I didn't get the chance to officially welcome you into the New Directions." He said before handing Alex a chocolate cupcake with white icing and a black icing treble clef on top.

"I was so busy with NYADA stuff and preparation for the mixer and I felt bad and you know how my dad can't cook-" Kurt rambled before Alex stopped Kurt by putting the free hand that wasn't holding the cupcake over the countertenor's mouth as Alex laughed.

"Thank you, Kurt." He said before taking a small bite out of the cupcake. His eyes lit up at the taste.

"Is that buttercream icing?" he asked and Kurt grinned.

"I remembered from that one time you were at my house when I baked my dad's favorite cake and I come back into the kitchen with you head first in the icing bowl slurping all the leftovers." Kurt said and Alex laughed.

"Well, only you have seen me do that. I don't want to ruin my mysterious reputation." The Chinese-American boy replied with both of the boys laughing before they made it to Kurt's locker as he put his books away and pulled out a can of hairspray.

"Well, even if Blaine doesn't transfer here I'm glad to have someone like you as a friend." Kurt then said and Alex showed a small smile before he heard a voice from one Blaine Anderson.

'_Perfect freaking timing_' Alex thought-snarled to the boyfriend that Kurt nonstop talked about to him over the summer, before Kurt turned to Alex and motioned to him.

"Blaine, this is Alex. He transferred from Carmel last year, just joined the New Directions and a good friend of mine." Kurt said before he turned on his heels to face Alex.

"Alex, this is Blaine. My Warbler boyfriend." Kurt then introduced the other young man to his boyfriend. The two boys shook hands.

"So you're the famous Blaine?" Alex asked.

"And you're the famous Alex. Kurt has told me so much about you." Blaine replied with a charming smile. Alex could only smile at his modesty and how he has hidden his attraction to Kurt well from his boyfriend. Alex was not the jealous type but something about Blaine made him feel an envious coil begin to twist in his stomach as he continued nibbling on the gifted cupcake Kurt gave him. The 3 boys walked as Kurt asked Blaine how he wasn't at Dalton working on a new "Katy Perry showstopper". Blaine then pointed out that he wasn't in his Warbler outfit. Both boys caught on that Blaine had transferred to McKinley before Kurt started rambling about how Blaine transferring could lead to a horrible break-up but Blaine cut off his rambling.

"Hey, hey. I came here for me because I can't stand to be apart from the person I love." The junior said and Kurt could only smile while Alex could only fake smile at how freaking dapper this boy was.

"And you look seriously adorable when you ramble on." Blaine added on. Alex looked over Kurt's shoulder from his position about 2 feet from the Broadway lover.

"You'd better get used to that." Alex said, gaining a laugh from Blaine before Kurt said that they now just have to find a way into the New Directions.

"I already have that figured out." He said before a chatting couple walking past them caught his eye. Or one half of it anyway.

"Hey, Dylan!" Blaine called out and the tall blonde boy turned his head and smiled.

"Hey, Blaine!" he said and he turned around with Brittany who was stood beside him.

"I was just about to set up now." The soccer player said and Blaine smiled.

"Awesome." The former Dalton crooner simply said, gaining a grin from Dylan.

"I'll see you out there." Dylan then said before walking back own the hallway and continuing to chat to Brittany. Kurt looked from the couple back to his boyfriend.

"What was that about?" he asked.

**0000000000**

One Gilligan cut later and in the courtyard, a brass section began the introduction to Tom Jones' 'It's Not Unusual' accompanied by Dylan on a purple piano at the bottom of the steps. Meanwhile Kurt and Blaine were at the top of the stairs, Blaine dancing to the song while Kurt stood watching with his hands on his pockets. Blaine then slid down the bannister to the middle platform and began his performance while Kurt travelled with Rachel down the stairs to the bottom and sat beside Alex with the rest of the New Directions. Overall, the performance went really well and the Cheerios and Santana joined in although near the end of the song, a few of them circled Dylan's piano and sprayed hairspray all over him. He then stood up and patted Blaine on the shoulder, congratulating him before suddenly Dylan felt a sudden burst of heat and a loud explosion, He turned to see that the purple piano had been set on fire and he was being pushed away from it by Finn and Puck before the realization set in at how serious the situation could have been if he hadn't of moved out of the way.

He then looked to see Quinn walking away from the scene and his eyes narrowed. Did she have something to do with this? Dylan could only put the many questions in his mind to rest as he went to go and change his clothes with the emergency set he always brought in case he got slushied.

**0000000000**

The next day, Dylan was sat in the choir room talking to Brittany, Kurt and Alex when Mr. Schuester walked in with Blaine.

Ladies and gentleman, let's hear it for Glee Club's newest member, Blaine Anderson." He said as he stood in the center of the floor with Blaine.

"Thanks so much, everyone. I'm so thrilled to be here. It's gonna be a great year, I can feel it. We're all gonna go to Nationals!" Blaine then said and applause rose from the group, well minus the most of the boys which Mr. Schuester noticed.

"Is there a problem, guys?" the director asked, leading Blaine to speak up.

"I just want Blaine to know that we're not the Warblers. You know, we're not into the bells and whistles or the ball-hogging." The quarterback said as Blaine went to sit down next to Kurt.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" the newest glee club member asked.

"Well yeah, you set a bonfire in our courtyard." Finn countered.

"Actually, doorknob that was an act of political protest." Santana then piped up, leading Dylan to look at her with shocked eyes.

"Which leads me to the next order of business. Santana, you need to leave. It was you and the Cheerios who set fire to our piano, nearly injuring Dylan in the process. How could you do that?" Mr. Schuester then asked.

"Mr. Schue, Sue made me." Santana tried to reason.

"Brittany didn't do it." Will pointed out. Dylan looked to his girlfriend for an explanation.

"Well yeah, I was gonna help, but I dunno, I'm the water sign, so…" Brittany explained in her own little way. Dylan could only sigh with relief at the fact she didn't do it.

"You're banned from Glee. Don't come back unless you can be as loyal to this club as the rest of the people in this room." Mr. Schuester then said, giving the Latina Cheerio an ultimatum. He held his hand up to the door, motioning for Santana to leave which she stood up to do, saying she needed a break anyway but Dylan stood up.

"Wait." He said and Santana turned to him.

"I want a word with you, outside." Dylan said before leaving the choir room. Santana then left soon after and they kept walking until they were out of earshot of the choir room.

"What the actual hell possessed you to do what you did?!" Dylan whispered, although you could tell by his tone that he _**really **_wanted to yell.

"I told you before, Sue made me do it." Santana said, folding her arms and standing her ground.

"Yeah, but did you even think that it could have possibly killed me?!" Dylan asked, his posture getting incredibly tense. Before Santana could reply, another person entered the conversation.

"What are you guys fighting about?" the voice of one Jennifer McGraw asked.

"Oh, just at the fact that your girlfriend is a complete psychopath!" Dylan whisper-yelled in reply. Santana opened her mouth to protest but Dylan beat her to the punch.

"Don't you dare deny that she's your girlfriend. I saw you two in her bedroom that first week of summer and I've seen you many times this week looking at each other, smiling, laughing. It adds up. And before you say anything, I'm not going to out you to the school because I know that only me, Brittany and Jennifer know. But just so you know, if you try to set me on fire again, don't assume I'm going to be this forgiving." Dylan said.

"The Cheerios didn't set the piano on fire. Quinn did. I saw her throw a cigarette end at the piano." Jenn said and Dylan's face ashened. Did she seriously do this? She's gone too far this time.

Jenn just turned to Santana.

"I'll see you after school, okay?" the redhead asked and Santana nodded before kissing the smaller girl's cheek. They then parted before the ex-couple made their way back into the choir room just as Rachel was announcing West Side Story and Kurt was announcing he was running for student body president. At least the West Side Story news cheered Dylan up seeing as he loved the musical. And maybe he can show people that the underdog can be a lead role. He did it last year with dancing at Sectionals, so why can't he do it this year for the role of Tony?

"Okay. So much excitement. Now, let's rehearse." Mr. Schuester then said just as Jenn and Dylan sat down.

"Look at what they did to us, Mr. Schue. Just like these purple pianos, they ripped out our guts, threw crap all over us and burned us up." Tina then said and Dylan visibly flinched at the last one, which Tina quickly apologized for.

"Yeah, we got hit pretty hard. But," Mr. Schuester started before he turned on his heels and went towards one of the pianos and played a 3 key scale, the enriching sound literally being music to everyone's ears.

"These pianos are still making music, and so are we." Mr. Schuester finished and everyone smiled before Rachel stood up.

"Mr. Schue, as always, you and I are on the exact same page." She said before going to brad who was now sat in front of one of the pianos and Rachel began to sing 'You Can't Stop The Beat' which continued into the auditorium where Finn was on the drums, Alex on the piano, Dylan and Puck on the guitars and the others dancing their hearts out (with Dylan even doing a trampoline aided backflip with the guitar still in hand), going into a group hug when the song finished as they all welcomed each other into another tempestuous year and wished for the people leaving to hopefully return soon.

**0000000000**

**Songs used are 'So Sick' by Ne-Yo (the Sam Tsui and Max Schneider cover) and 'Grace Kelly' by Mika.**

**Alright! So we begin the Three Musketeers journey into Season 3. I know this chapter was mainly focused on Dylan and Alex but Jenn's predicaments will be highlighted very soon. And I wanted to focus on Alex so everyone can get to know him a little better.**

**Until 'I Am Unicorn' appears, this is Cola-Flavoured-Sherbet...**

**Signing out.**


End file.
